Lon Chaney Has Nothing On You

Chapter 11

The night of the full moon came fast. Eleanor found herself in the Sands backyard, shivering at the sudden chill in the air. Jordan stood with them, waiting for the moon to reach it's peak. Hunter stood in the middle of the yard, dressed only his underwear. A deep, red flush was making it's way down his chest, but Eleanor was firmly not looking.

"Can you guys go inside until I change, please?" Hunter asked, shifting back and forth. His arms were tight around himself, trying to preserve some modicum of dignity.

"Nope," Jordan told him cheerily. "We have to be out here so we can get an accurate reading to how much adrenaline there is at the change. It's very scientific."

"You're a poli-sci major!" Hunter argued. He looked to Eleanor, frowning. "I still don't get why E's here. I mean, no offense, but it's really not something I want you to watch."

"This whole experiment was her idea, and she's going to analyzing the data!" Privately, Eleanor agreed with Hunter, but she couldn't find it in herself to say no to Jordan. She was deeply charismatic.

"I won't look, I promise," Eleanor told him, turning around. "I'm just here for the blood sample."

Instead of answering, Hunter groaned, a deep, rumbling noise. Eleanor wanted to turn around, to watch him change, but she'd promised.

"Okay, I need you to relax, okay?" Jordan said, presumably to Hunter. "I need a blood sample."

Hunter growled, something so inhuman that Eleanor did turn around, faced once again with the beast that had decimated a vampire in her yard. Hunter looked to her, his huge eyes golden and swirling.

Jordan plunged the needle in, drawing back when the syringe had been filled. Carefully she pulled out the needle and handed Eleanor the vial. They'd done something similar in bio lab, and she'd spent the better part of the last two days researching.

The Sands' kitchen had been turned into a makeshift lab, and Eleanor worked diligently. Mr. Sands kept popping his head in every so often, clearly nervous. Rob and Rich were on their way, to help Eleanor analyze the data.

A few hours later, and several pages of calculations, Eleanor thought she had an answer. Rich combed over her work carefully, while Rob ran a simulation on a program he'd "found" on the internet.

Around 11, Eleanor sent a text to her mom, lying and telling her that she'd be staying over at Natalie's. She made her way to the backyard, where Hunter paced nervously in the yard. It seemed to small for him, but that might just have been because he was bigger than a bear.

"Hey," she called softly. Hunter huffed, settling down in the grass in front of her. He didn't look so scary like this, calm and sedate. In fact, he was almost cute. "We figured it out, we think. We know how much to give you."

Eleanor yawned, slumping in to the lawn chair she sat in. Hunter's clothes were slung over the back, cushioning her head slightly. She closed her eyes, resting them for just a moment.

The next thing she knew, someone was trying to pull her pillow from her. Eleanor frowned, tugging it back. It left her anyways.

"E, hey, wake up," someone said, but she couldn't place the voice. Suddenly, there was an arm behind her knees and another one at her back. Eleanor jerked awake a moment later, cradled in Hunter's arms as he carried her inside. Belatedly, she realized he was shirtless.

"Put me down, I'm good!" she squeaked. Hunter looked at her in alarm, like he hadn't realized she was awake. Surprised, he dropped her. Eleanor hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of her.